Creativity and community come together once more in Berkshire, as Corn Exchange Newbury announce their autumn programme for 2022. From a packed August full of family treats to the classic Christmas pantomime, this season features traditional favourites and new adventures for everyone to enjoy.
Katy Griffiths, Director of Corn Exchange Newbury, comments, We are delighted to launch a jam-packed season of live performances and creative activities. It’s a season that truly reflects the range of activity we have on offer at the Corn Exchange; from the fantastic touring companies we’ll be hosting, our joyous in-house pantomime, all the classes taking place in our dedicated Learning Centre, through to our completely free outdoor performance programme – we can’t wait to share it all with our audiences.
The programme kicks off with Amazing August, as audiences are invited to experience Corn Exchange in the midst of summer. Explore Newbury as never before with the Superhero Adventure Trail, get your skates on at the Family Roller Disco and dance the night away at a whole host of musical experiences including the Vintage Dance Party and Deep Sea Ravers.
Outdoors, there’s theatrical magic from leading French theatre company Le G. Bistaki, who bring their bewitching and otherworldly Bel Horizon (Sat 6th August) to Greenham Common. In September, experience the shows developed in 101 Outdoor Arts: National Centre for Arts in Public Space, Corn Exchange’s very own creation hub, in Made at 101 (Sun 18th September), as The Clay Connection & Supple Productions present Lives of Clay, which features thrilling classical Indian dance, live ceramics, original music and half a ton of clay, alongside Alleyne Dance with Bonded, which explores human dependency through twin sisters.
Plested Brown and Wilsher return to Corn Exchange for a fourth year to delight audiences with their hilarious pantomime Jack and The Beanstalk (Fri 25th November – Sat 31st December). This fresh take takes audiences on an epic adventure with plenty of jokes, songs from across the decades and magic in gigantic proportions. The Christmas magic continues with the Festival of Light (Sun 11th December), which will see Newbury town centre transformed into a twinkling winter wonderland with hundreds of lanterns made by families, schools and community groups, bringing the local community together.
The autumn season will see exciting one-night-only performances of dance, music, talks and comedy. Take a trip down memory lane with Magic of Motown (Sat 17th September), and prepare to laugh at some big jokes and fat punchlines with Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sofie Hagen (Wed 21st September). Ballet Cymru visit Newbury with Dream, their sparkling re-interpretation of a Shakespeare classic (Tue 11th October) and children will be delighted by The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show (Sat 15th – Sun 16th October). Milton Jones brings his own popular brand of humour and laugh-out-loud one-liners to Newbury in Milton: Impossible (Wed 26th October); The Dark (Sat 29th October) brings to life Lemony Snicket’s tale of Laszlo and the dark, made accessible for blind and visually impaired children through integrated audio-description and touch tours; and as we near Christmas The Crown Ballet presents the eternal seasonal favourite The Nutcracker (Wed 9th November).
The season runs in tandem with the Corn Exchange’s extensive engagement programme for the local community, including the Corn Exchange Youth Theatre and the wide range of Ageing Creatively courses. Both on stage and off, there’s something for everyone at Corn Exchange Newbury.
